AP/EN A (Y) American Literature: 19 th Century Fall/Winter

Transcription

1 AP/EN A (Y) American Literature: 19 th Century Fall/Winter Time: Place: Course Director: Prof. Brett Zimmerman Course Secretary: 350 Stong College 208F Stong College ex ex Office hour: by appointment only Susanna Rowson ( ) Charles Brockden Brown ( ) Some Other Significant Literary Figures Washington Irving ( ) James Fenimore Cooper ( ) William Cullen Bryant ( ) Nat Turner ( ) Ralph Waldo Emerson ( ) Robert Montgomery Bird ( ) Nathaniel Hawthorne ( ) Nathaniel Parker Willis ( ) Edgar Allan Poe ( ) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ( ) Margaret Fuller ( ) John Greenleaf Whittier ( ) Harriet Beecher Stowe ( ) Oliver Wendell Holmes ( ) Harriet Jacobs ( ) Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( ) Henry David Thoreau ( ) Frederick Douglass ( ) Herman Melville ( ) James Russell Lowell ( ) Walt Whitman ( ) George Lippard ( ) Emily Dickinson ( ) Mark Twain ( ) William Dean Howells ( ) Ambrose Bierce ( ?) Henry James ( ) Charlotte Perkins Gilman ( ) Stephen Crane ( ) This course celebrates, in part, a remarkable period in American literary history what Van Wyck Brooks referred to as the Flowering of New England ( ) and what F. O. Matthiessen called the American Renaissance ( ). These years saw the full flowering of American literary genius: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau in American Transcendental philosophy and the essay form; Walt Whitman in open-form poetry; and Poe, Melville, and Hawthorne in the literature of Dark Romanticism, which often was written in direct response to the utterances, the optimistic world view, and the epistemology of the New England Transcendentalists. The output of these brilliant literary artisans was especially astounding during the middle years of the century ( ) with the proliferation of masterpieces such as The Scarlet Letter, Moby-Dick, Walden, Leaves of Grass, and other important texts from Melville, Hawthorne, Emerson, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose Uncle Tom s Cabin would become the #1 best-seller in America and the most influential U.S. novel of all time. In part, she drew upon the genre of the slave narrative, which was flourishing with 1

2 contributions from such writer-rhetoricians as Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Jacobs. America could now stand proudly on the stage of world literature. A watershed moment in the history of the nation, the American Civil War brought an end to the American Renaissance period in literature but that did not mean great writers were not flourishing after Writing about the war were authors such as Stephen Crane and Ambrose Bierce; important post-bellum figures also include Henry James, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Significant nonfiction prose also appeared during the nineteenth century, including Indian captivity narratives, which participate in a literary form that had its inception in the earliest days of Colonial history. Literary trends and movements we examine include Romanticism, Realism, and Naturalism; we also consider the call for a linguistically distinct American literary voice, as achieved particularly in Mark Twain s groundbreaking narrative The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. While giving students an understanding of some of the many themes that comprise the American literary mosaic, this course also stresses the stylistic aspects of some of the works as well as other critical approaches to literature (anti-stereotype, feminist, historical, history-ofideas, psychoanalytical, generic, influence). We also spend time discussing, practicing, and further developing various academic skills involving critical thinking, reading, writing, and test-taking. * an asterisk indicates a work in the Prose course kit ** two asterisks indicate a work in the Poetry and Critical Skills course kit FIRST TERM: September 15: Introduction and administrative duties; CONSULT: Selected History of the United States: *; Characters in Our Major Texts *; Themes for American Literature: 19 th Century * Note: read the selections in precisely the order in which they appear in each week s schedule. Consult the appropriate sections in Questions for Directed Reading, in the Prose course kit, before or while reading the primary material each week. I A CENTURIES-OLD CONFLICT: RED VS. WHITE Sept. 22: Sept. 29: An American Genre: The Indian Captivity Narrative READ (secondary): Stereotypes of Native Americans: Noble Red Man and Murdering Savage *; The Indian Captivity Narrative: an Early North American Literary Genre *; Some Indian Captivity Narratives and their Historical Contexts *; CONSULT (secondary): handouts depicting illustrations relating to captivities READ (primary): narratives by Jewitt, Lee, Kelly The Native American as Gothic Villain READ (secondary): The Features of Gothic Literature *; American vs. British Gothic Fiction *; Introduction to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer *; READ (primary): Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (chapters 5, 6, 8-11, 13, 16, 22-35) 2

3 II THE PURITAN INFLUENCE October 6: Oct : Oct. 20: Puritanism vs. Romanticism; The Romance vs. the Novel READ (secondary): Hawthorne on Writing Romances *; Romanticism vs. Realism: The Chase Thesis *; Northrop Frye on the Romance *; Aspects of Realism vs. Romanticism and the Sentimental Novel *; Techniques of Literary Realism *; The Meteoric A in The Scarlet Letter and the 1833 Leonids Meteor Shower *; READ (primary): Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter Co-Curricular Days (no classes whoo hoo!) The Scarlet Letter (continued) III TRANSCENDENTALISM Oct. 27: Visionary Philosopher or Lazy Slug? READ (secondary): Transcendentalism *; Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman: Transcendental Utterances *; Time Symbolism in Walden * (essay in the MLA format); Higher Laws and Nature (illustration)*; READ (primary): Henry David Thoreau, Walden (selected chapters: Economy, Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, Higher Laws, Spring, Conclusion ) November 3: Ahab as Reverse Transcendentalist READ (secondary): Introduction to Moby-Dick *; The Metaphysics of Moby- Dick *; Classic American Literary Patterns: Dudes in Nature *; READ (primary): Herman Melville, Moby-Dick Nov. 10: Nov. 17: Moby-Dick (continued) Dialoguing with Transcendentalists through Sportive Gothic and Satire READ (secondary): Introduction to The Apple-Tree Table *; READ (primary): Melville, The Apple-Tree Table *; READ (secondary): sample essay MLA format: The Gothic Psychomachy and Satire in Melville s The Apple-Tree Table ** Critical-Writing Skills Essays: Read the following in the critical skills course kit: Zimmerman s Friendly Guidelines on Essay Writing ; Formatting Issues: Citations and Your Essay s Bibliography ; Correction Symbols and Abbreviations ; Advice on Essay Writing: Codes ; Instructor s Evaluation Sheet Nov. 24: Critical-Skills Lesson: Punctuation (not to be missed!) December 1: Review for fall-term test Dec. 1 st : FIRST-TERM ESSAY DUE (to be handed in at the beginning of class) 3

4 Dec. 8: Dec. 10: Fall-term test Fall classes end; last date to submit term work SECOND TERM: IV SLAVERY AND RACE RELATIONS January 5: Jan. 12: Jan. 19: Jan. 26: February 2: Feb. 11: Feb. 9 Feb. 16: Feb : V March 2: A Special Kind of Autobiography: the Slave Narrative and its Formula Control Mechanisms and Coping Strategies READ (secondary): Life under (American) Slavery: Controlling Mechanisms and Survival Techniques *; African-Americans in U.S. Literature: Types, Stereotypes, and Myths *; Letter from a Former Slave to His Master *; READ (primary): Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself Critical-Skills Lesson: Grammar and Syntax (not to be missed!) Sentimental Novel Meets Slave Narrative READ (secondary): Theories of Race in Nineteenth-Century America *; Introduction to Uncle Tom s Cabin *; READ (primary): Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom s Cabin Uncle Tom s Cabin, continued The Shadow over America: More U.S. Gothic READ (secondary): White Fears: The Power of Blackness *; READ (secondary): Black Fears: The Power of Whiteness *; READ (secondary): Slave Uprisings *; READ (primary): Nat Turner, Confessions of Nat Turner *; READ (primary): Melville, Benito Cereno Final drop date for fall-winter (full-year) courses Realism and U.S. Literature READ (secondary): Features of the Picaresque Novel *; READ (primary): Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Iconoclasm; Pragmatism; Egalitarianism; Realism; Romanticism; Coping Mechanisms Huckleberry Finn (continued) WINTER READING WEEK (no classes whoo hoo!) THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Where ignorant armies clash by night READ (secondary): Literary Naturalism: Stephen Crane and The Open Boat *; 4

5 READ (primary): Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage VI March 9: THE WOMEN S MOVEMENT: FIRST-WAVE FEMINISM A Study in Gender Polarities READ (secondary): Elizabeth Cady Stanton et al., The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions *; READ (primary): Melville, The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids * Critical-Writing Skills: Considering what (if any) weaknesses you displayed in your first essay, I recommend that you start reading the necessary sections in the course kit in preparation for its revision: e.g., Grammar**; Syntax**; Diction; Wordiness; Punctuation** March 16: March 23: The True Woman and Existential Anxiety READ (secondary): Welter, The Cult of True Womanhood: *; Style (Expression) and Psychological Illness/ Symptoms of Schizophrenia *; Diagram for The Yellow Wallpaper *; Friedan, The Forfeited Self *; READ (primary): Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper * Review for winter-term test March 23 rd : FINAL ESSAY DUE (to be handed in at the beginning of class) March 30: April 4: Winter-term test Winter classes end; last day to submit term work Course Requirements 1 st essay: 20% (6-7 pages) 2 nd essay: 20% (7-8 pages) 1 st -term test: 22% 2 nd -term test: 23% Research assignment 5% Participation: 10% Students are expected to submit all assignments to be eligible to pass this course (although submission of all assignments doesn t guarantee a pass). Reading list Required: These are the official course editions but any editions will do. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Dover) Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Dover) 5

6 Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage (Dover) Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (Dover) Frederick Drimmer, ed. Captured by the Indians: 15 Firsthand Accounts, (Dover) Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (Dover) Herman Melville, Benito Cereno (Dover) Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (Dover) Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom s Cabin (Dover) Henry David Thoreau, Walden (Dover) Brett Zimmerman, Nineteenth-Century American Literature (Prose) course kit Brett Zimmerman, Nineteenth-Century American Literature (Critical Skills) course kit Course Kit Readings: Betty Friedan, The Forfeited Self (excerpt from The Feminine Mystique) Herman Melville, The Apple-Tree Table ; The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids Elizabeth Cady Stanton, et al. The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions Barbara Welter, The Cult of True Womanhood: Recommended purchases: Every serious English major should own Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7 th edition and the latest editions of one or more of the following: M. H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms - not a comprehensive literary catalogue but includes excellent short essays on various critical approaches to literature Chris Baldick, Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms - inexpensive because abbreviated; better than nothing Edwin J. Barton and Glenda A. Hudson, A Contemporary Guide to Literary Terms - expensive, far from comprehensive, but quite useful anyway Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. J. A. Cuddon, Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory - expensive but comprehensive Northrop Frye, Sheridan Baker, George Perkins, The Harper Handbook to Literature Martin Gray, A Dictionary of Literary Terms William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman, A Handbook to Literature - my personal favourite; expensive but comprehensive 6

7 X. J. Kennedy, Dana Gioia, Mark Bauerlein, Handbook of Literary Terms: Literature, Language, Theory - short but useful Edward Quinn, Collins Dictionary of Literary Terms 7